UEFA today announced the sites for the finals of the 2005 Champions League, and the UEFA Cup. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul (capacity 80,000) will host the Champions League Final, and the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon (50,000) will host the UEFA Cup final. This season's finals are being played at the Ullevi Stadium in Göteborg, Sweden (UEFA Cup), and the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Champions League) http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=16384/newsId=142742.html There were 6 bidding venues for the UEFA Cup final, 2 others in Portugal, as well as the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, Hampden Park in Glasgow, and St. James' Park in Newcastle. St. James' is the backup site in case the final has to be moved for whatever reason. Other venues bidding for the Champions League final included the Stade de France, and Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid.
Atatürk Olimpiyat (81,600) pics: http://www.stadionwelt.de/Stadionwe...en/Tuerkei/Olympiastadion/Olympiastadion.html Estadio Alvalade XXI (50,300) pics: http://www.stadionwelt.de/Stadionwelt-Stadien-Arenen/Stadionlisten/Portugal/Sporting/index.html
Yeah but those theories are silly. Uefa did force Besiktas and Galatasaray to play their home games in Germany in the end of 2003. Here is another pic of the Istanbul stadium:
I really wonder what trouble might happen if a Turkish team makes the final and then lose. And, say a club in the final was one to eliminate the biggest Turkish contender in a previous round, what might happen to that club and their supporters when they finally show up in Turkey. Sometimes I think UEFA keeps awarding things to the Turks in the hopes that something good would happen and all of the past problems would then be forgotten. On another note, why was Portugal allowed to host a final considering that they will have just hosted Euro 2004. Maybe the Portuguese tourist trade needs a boost. Oh well............
This may be a stretch but... Euro 2004 - European national competition UEFA Cup Final - European club cup competition Theoretically, UEFA could argue that the two have little to do with each other, even if many of the players competing in Euro 2004 may show up at the 2005 UC Final, though I doubt that knowing how the UEFA Cup has been diminished since the expansion of the Champions League.
I really hope that Turkey one day isn't considered a bad place to go play in, but it seems very clear that UEFA keeps bending over backwards for them. And bending over frontwards and taking it for that matter.